Feng Shui for Beggars

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

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I’m a 65-year-old lifetime Santa Barbarian, my extended family has lived here for generations, so I feel I’ve a proprietary interest in how our city is governed and how our public monies are allocated.

Fifty thousand dollars of public funding, no matter the source, to study the arrangement of what have become sleeping areas, latrines, and places of business for beggars, seems a complete abrogation of fiscal responsibility by our city council. If the funding was used to provide aid and shelter to the addicted and/or addled, it might be a stopgap measure for the problems business owners and shoppers are having on the lower State Street corridor, but throwing taxpayer dollars at reconfiguring seating for the aimless is more political posturing than sound budgetary procedure.

I expect more than touchie-feelie sound-bytes from my elected representatives, and would hope they’d find a better use for an extra $50,000 than providing feng shui for the unconscious.

Comments

Reg, the problem you face is an ll too common problem: An out of touch set of so-called "leaders" that have no clue as to what their constituency needs.Keep in mind, this same set of leaders bickered about that "blue line project" that went nowhere (THANK GOD!) & are now bickering about the "rearranging" of these benches.If you look @ it closely, it all comes down to a elite group of "leaders" trying to procure works for their friends.You know the old saying: 1 Hand washes the other." The way this applies is "I'll vote to get you a over-priced job, in return you vote for me next election" type of scenario.It is becoming evident that the average ahrd working, tax paying, law abiding citizen is getting fed up & a letter like your's is a classic example. Maybe next election "the machine" will take a serious hit. We can only hope so :) henry